Techbargains Reviews

Laptops are known for their portability, but some of them aren't very durable. That can be a hassle for frequent fliers, consultants with frequent off-site meetings and other business people working outside of the office. These professionals need a system that's strong enough to survive any accidental drops, spills or dings from everyday use, but flexible enough to handle a PowerPoint presentation, file reports and send emails. The HP Elitebook 8440p was designed to meet the needs of these "road warriors," with a machine engineered to meet military standards for dust, vibration and temperature.

The system that we received had the following specs:

Core i5-560M Running at 2.67Ghz with 3MB L3 Cache

2GB of DDR3 RAM running at 1333 MHZ

14" Screen w/1366x768 maximum resolution

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD Video Card

280GB 7200rpm Hard Drive with DriveGuard Protection

2MP Webcam

Internal DVD Burner

Windows 7 Professional

What We Liked:

Extremely solid, yet light - The 8440p was built in a solid brushed aluminum and platinum case, which looks impressive and professional enough to fit into any boardroom. However, it's also designed to withstand serious punishment in transit. With a solid metallic hinge construction, the system (when closed) could literally take bumps, drops and falls without a problem. Plus, the shock mounted hard drive with its accelerometer and DriveGuard system protects your data if the laptop is dropped by parking the platters of the device. With all of this, you'd expect the system to be extremely heavy, but it's actually easy to carry, weighing in at just over 5 pounds.

Solid Performance - Initially, there was a bit of concern as to whether the system would be able to handle a lot of simultaneous tasks due to the limited RAM. However, the 8440p was able to handle multi-tasking without any issues, running a DVD, 3 simultaneous streamed Hulu clips and multiple browser windows without any hitches or noticeable slowdown.

Very Secure System - Everyone knows that keeping your data secure is extremely important, but the 8440p provides multiple levels of security to ensure that prying eyes can't access your files. It's a simple process to set up login, fingerprint or even smart card security access depending on your desired level of protection, and you can encrypt specific files or the entire hard drive just in case anyone does manage to circumvent your countermeasures.

No Bloatware - The 8440p doesn't come with useless software already installed on the system. That's a definite plus, because you don't have to waste time uninstalling programs you'll never use or don't want, unlike other laptops out there. Plus, it frees up the space on the drive for more important things, like your files or projects.

Surprisingly cool - One of the largest complaints about laptops is that the system gets incredibly hot, especially if you've had it on your lap for a while. Surprisingly, the 8440p never got hot at all, even when it was plugged in. That's an incredible feat of design, and it was very comfortable to do testing on a couch or a desk without being worried about the heat output from the system.

Quick Launch Buttons - The 8440 provides two quick launch buttons above the keyboard, which allow you to launch a browser window or an application without needing to access the Start Menu. It's a useful feature, especially when you're in the middle of a presentation or a meeting and you want to instantly pull up a website, for example.

What We Didn't Like:

Battery Life - We weren't too impressed by the battery on the 8440p compared to other systems that are out there. The laptop came with four separate power options, HP Optimized, Power Saver, Balanced and High Performance, but the system only managed to run between 2 hours, 50 minutes, and 3 and a half hours on a single charge. That's only if you're putting the system under a light load; heavier loads, like movies and memory intensive apps, will drain it faster.

Dim Screen - Even plugged in, the 8440p's screen is very dim compared to other laptops or monitors. We pumped up the brightness of the screen to its maximum setting, and it was still half as bright as other laptops that we use on a regular basis. You may want to plan on using an external monitor for work on this one.

Weak Video Card - The system we reviewed only had the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD Video Card, which is functional for some basic video playback, but you'll get a lot of artifacting and noise whenever you watch a movie in a window or expand to full screen. Don't expect to play games when you're looking to unwind after a business day with this system, either.

Underwhelming Speakers - The speakers aren't great -- sound is tinny and rather thin, and bass didn't really come though at all. You'll want to connect to external speakers, especially if you're trying to hear anything or host a presentation in a room.

Light Specs for Price - The system that we received sells for about one thousand dollars, but the specs were pretty light for what you pay for. You can easily get a separate system for the same price that has a larger hard drive (280GB is way too small), a better video card and more RAM.

Tiny trackpad - It's a minor concern, but the trackpad on the 8440p is way too small to be used with any consistency. You will want a mouse.

Our Verdict:

We were struck by the aesthetics and practicality of the 8440p -- the system is incredibly well-made, and the added hard drive protection ensures that your data is practically invulnerable to the hazards of the road. The quick launch buttons are useful as well, and the processor can handle just about anything that is thrown at it, so conducting day to day business should be a breeze. Plus, the additional levels of security for the system make sure that your data is protected no matter where you go. If you travel a lot for your job, you should definitely consider this laptop as the anchor of your carry-on baggage.

However, even with that said, the system does have a few strikes against it. The 8440p isn't a multimedia powerhouse, which limits its usefulness for presentations out of the office because video and sound playback wasn't great. Plus, you can pay the same price for another laptop that has stronger system specs, such as a better hard drive, video card and RAM. Take this with a grain of salt, because those systems won't come close to offering the same kind of hardware protection that the 8440p does. If you feel like you're going to be out in the field quite a bit, you should consider this laptop for your needs; otherwise, you may want to consider the other options on the market.